PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING:[/i] combat practice thread; those participating may use any character that they wish. However, this is not just a 'have at it' fight; given that this is posted within the RP Academy / Practice Arena, this thread exists to
teach you something. That something, in this case, is the art and artistry behind player-vs-player RP battles ("Sparring" for short). Those who wish to take part and hone their skills must abide by the following rule set:
[/u][/b]
[li]Limit one character per player
[/li][li]Limit two (2) melee weapons per character
[/li][li]
NO RANGED WEAPONS PERMITTED[/li][li]
NO MAGIC / POWERS / SPECIAL ABILITIES PERMITTED[/li][li]All players entering combat agree to take damage realistically / believably (no unbreakable defense, perfect guard, flawless evasion, iron-clad skin or superhuman healing)
[/li][li]Players may come and go at will, as well as swap out characters if their current one becomes seriously wounded / KO'd. (Please post [ENTER:
Character Name] and [LEAVE:
Character Name when doing this, or simply [LEAVE] if departing the thread completely.)
[/li][li]Players are
encouraged to keep their writing focused on the actions of combat and physical descriptions of the action as much as possible, for learning purposes.[/li][/ul]
Okay, I know some of you are looking at that list and going "What the heck is
THIS? Melee only? No magic?". Let me spell it out for you. I've been in RP for 17 years -- about half of it spent Sparring on forums where the competition was very driven, very intense. In that time I've learned a
lot about how to RP effectively, to get the most out of yourself as a writer... as well as the bad habits that most RPers tend to get into. As anyone who's read
Deeds of the Writers will know, the style of Sparring that World Destiny and most other RP forums use, called 'Open Style', makes it all too easy for RPers to get into a habit of "throwing attacks" at their opponents instead of
interacting with their opponents. As a result, melee -- the real bread-and-butter of actual
fighting -- tends to fall by the wayside.
In my experience, those RPers who learn to write melee fighting in Open Style, and do so
effectively, have either already mastered or quickly master everything else there is to know. Those who shy away from it limit themselves as writers and competitors and seldom show significant growth beyond the natural level of their own talent. And so, for those who are
serious about improving themselves, we're going to master the toughest aspect here, together.
That's right... I hope to improve myself in this domain as well.
Starting battlefield will be Olympus Coliseum. The battlefield will change occasionally to keep things interesting -- using your environs is another important Sparring skill, btw. If there are any disputes or questions that arise, I'll try to field them as best I can -- if I can't resolve whatever it is, hopefully someone from the forum staff will volunteer to oversee and judge our little exercise here.
And without further ado...
let us begin.[/ul]
